2011年4月21日 11:11
Yukio Edano, the country''s chief cabinetsecretary, said on Thursday that the order would take effect from midnightlocal time on Friday (1500GMT on Thursday), and was aimed at preventingunrestricted entry into an area that has been largely deserted since anevacuation order first went out following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Under
"We beg the understanding ofresidents. We really want residents not to enter the areas," Edano said."Unfortunately, there are still some people in the areas."
Edano termed the plant''s condition as"not stable".
"[The declaration] reflects a growingworry from the Japanese government that people have been getting into this areamuch too easily and without enough caution," reported Harry Fawcett, AlJazeera''s correspondent in
"The evacuation zone has beenoff-limits in terms of people living in their homes ... but police around thecheckpoints bordering it haven''t been able to ... prevent people from comingin. All they''ve been able to do is take licence plate numbers and instructpeople to get a radiation check when they come out."
Families still in zone
Almost all of the around 80,000 residentsof the area had left when evacuation was ordered on March 12, but police saythat more than 60 families are still living inside the affected zone. Ourcorrespondent said many had returned to retrieve possessions or money fromtheir homes.
Edano said residents would be allowed toconduct brief visits to collect their belongings, with the authorities allowingone person per household to return by bus for a maximum of two hours. Theresidents would be required to go through radiation screening, he said, thoughthe details of the plan are still being worked out.
"We realise this is extremelyinconvenient for residents, but we urge you to be patient," Edano toldreporters in
Officials said that the no-go zone wasmeant mainly to limit people''s exposure to radiation and to control entry inorder to prevent thefts. The government had earlier declared a 30km evacuationzone, and suggested that residents of areas further afield may also soon betold to leave due to the risk of long-term radiation exposure.
Government under fire
On Thursday, Naoto
The prime minister, who has come under firefor the government''s response to the crisis, was also to meet with officials ata nuclear crisis management centre.
On Wednesday, however, Edano had suggestedthat Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the stricken nuclearplant, should have been better prepared.
"Aside from the question of whetherthe accident could have been predicted, there was not sufficient preparationbased on an anticipation, and there is no mistake about that," he said."We urge all nuclear operators to immediately take any possible precautionbased on the lesson from the
More older people died
At the
Those conducting the dangerous repairs onthe plant continue to face health concerns, Al Jazeera''s Fawcett reported.
"A doctor who visited the workersdoing this very dangerous work says that their own health is now suffering, ifnot from radiation then certainly from the psychological stress they''ve beenundergoing. Insomnia and heart conditions, he was talking about," he said.
More than 13,000 people were killed andtens of thousands lost their homes when the 9.0 earthquake and 15-metre tsunamihit
New data from the country''s National PoliceAgency shows that 65 per cent of those confirmed to have died in the disasterwere aged 60 or older. The agency said that nearly 93 per cent of fatalities inthe aftermath of the disaster were caused by drowning.
More than 130,000 people were in sheltersat the start of this week, police figures showed.
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